News in the Guardian today that Waitrose is to start selling Bath chaps, ox cheeks and trotters from next month. Which sounds like good news except for the fact that it will almost certainly drive the price of these thrifty cuts up. Lamb shanks, once a cheap food, are no longer a bargain buy. Ox cheeks (which are delicious) will probably follow suit, particularly if the other supermarkets decide they have to stock them too.
And I wonder how many people will actually cook with them? I must confess that even when I was researching The Frugal Cook I didn't use any of them (though I did use ox liver, scrag end of lamb and ham hocks). It takes time and time is what most people are short of these days.
Do you buy these sort of cuts? Would you if you could get hold of them easily? (Obviously you needn't answer if you're a veggie . . . )
My parents use to always buy tripe and pigs belly which they never had to share because no-one else wanted to eat them. My Nan used to use all sorts of offal and cheap cuts - tongue, ox heart, brawn, and I still have a vivid memory of taking the lid off a simmering pan in her kitchen and seeing a hairy pig's ear sticking out of the water.
ReplyDelete...and to answer your question, no I don't tend to use cheap cuts but mainly because I don't know what to do with them.
ReplyDeleteTripe I must confess I can't cope with NSM but am up for most of the other bits. You'll find one in your prizewinning copy of 'Frugal' but I'll also post some recipes here!
ReplyDeleteYou must certainly try pork belly which is delicious.
Fiona, did you say 'prizewinning'?? Ohhh! What have I done to deserve that?
ReplyDeleteSeem to remember we had a challenge a while back to come up with the best bargain and you came up with a £1.50 bag of prawns. Being massively inefficient I failed to make a note of it so maybe it wasn't you? If not you deserve one anyway for being such a good contributor.
ReplyDeleteYes I do use these cuts and they are readily available to me from my butcher but I know what you mean about Waitrose. It may drive the prices up which will be a shame as cuts like these are among my favourites.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes that was me (or at least my brother!) and I've just looked at the original post - it was on August 2nd. I'm very happy about winning the book - what a lovely surprise! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteBtw, the pigs' belly i referred to earlier is not to be confused with pork belly - it's not the same thing. The pigs' belly my parents used to buy was actually the pigs belly cut into sections. They used to eat it with onions. Yuk!
BTW have been into Waitrose a couple of times seeking out trotters to no avail. Apparently they're only going into 'selected branches' and are not yet sure mine is one of them. Just as well my local butcher has them then . . .
ReplyDeleteaI cooked ox cheek for the first time tonight - fabulous, and dead easy! Braised in red wine with onion and a star anise for 3 hours, served with noodles and greens. I will be stocking up the freezer before the price goes up.
ReplyDeleteI cooked ox cheek for the first time tonight - fabulous, and dead easy! Braised in red wine with onion and a star anise for 3 hours, served with noodles and greens. I will be stocking up the freezer before the price goes up.
ReplyDelete